Chapter 297: Purifying Once Again |
'Sure enough, I didn't guess wrong...' Su Chen settled his heart. Since the item had been brought over, this matter was already half complete. As for the other half...
He didn't act too eagerly, merely asking, "I wonder what price Sect Master paid? I actually have some experience in excavating Nether Realm Stones and have saved up quite a few Contribution Points."
"Excavating Nether Realm Stones?" The Ancient Bronze King couldn't help but chuckle. Changing the subject, he said, "The Royal Court didn't demand any price."
"Didn't demand a price?" Hearing this, Su Chen didn't show any joy. His brows furrowed involuntarily. "Then their meaning is..." He didn't believe the Royal Court would give it away for free.
"They intend to use it as the reward for the preliminaries of the Peak Star Tournament."
"The reward for the preliminaries?" Su Chen was somewhat stunned. "Did the Royal Court grow a conscience?"
He estimated that the various rewards for the Peak Star Tournament should have been determined long ago. When the Ancient Bronze King requested the Marrow of the Morning Star, the Royal Court didn't say yes, nor did they say no. Instead, they shoved the item into the prize pool. Su Chen couldn't quite figure it out.
But the gaze of the Ancient King before him landed on Su Chen, his meaning hard to discern. "Their purpose should be to investigate you."
"Investigate me." Su Chen was stunned. How did it come back to him again?
"Before it begins, there will be a very long, large-scale preliminary round. However, all 7th-Tier Star Seeds and 7th-Tier Divine Dawn Grade Talent possessors will skip the preliminaries."
"Those who excel in the preliminaries will also receive rewards."
Su Chen faintly tasted the meaning and couldn't help but say, "So, in the eyes of the Royal Court, if you want to obtain this Marrow of the Morning Star, you must find someone who is certain to obtain this reward, and I... might be the best choice?"
"Correct." Seeing Su Chen make the turn so quickly, the Ancient Bronze King nodded involuntarily. "Although this Marrow of the Morning Star is precious, to me it is nothing."
"If we brought out trading materials of equal value, to the Royal Court, it wouldn't be considered overly scarce either."
"Therefore, rather than conducting a standard trade, why not take advantage of the situation? It could even be said that by doing this, the Marrow of the Morning Star might not necessarily land in my hands."
At this point, the Ancient Bronze King's words inevitably carried a bit of emotion. "You've been staying within the sect all this time, so perhaps you can't feel it, but your name in the entire Dust Star Sea—if not known to everyone—is known by all those who should know."
"Many people want to figure out exactly what secrets lie on your body, but the various pieces of core information of the sect are absolutely not easy to investigate."
Su Chen frowned deeply. If he wanted to obtain the Marrow of the Morning Star, he definitely had to take first place in the preliminaries. If the 7th-Tier Star Seeds and Divine Dawn Grade possessors all didn't have to participate, without those perverts who had forged a Holy Class, he felt it wouldn't be a big problem.
But the Royal Court's purpose was precisely this: to draw him out and determine exactly how powerful he was, and then make further plans afterward.
For a time, he felt a sense of crisis of being targeted. This Royal Court was truly poisonous enough.
Perhaps they didn't know that he was the one who wanted this Marrow of the Morning Star, but through a strange twist of fate, it still fell on him.
"Then this matter..." Su Chen looked at the Ancient Bronze King somewhat hesitantly.
Yet this broad-faced Ancient King remained calm and indifferent. "If you can obtain it, then go obtain it. With me here, no one can touch you."
Su Chen stared blankly, his eyes shifting slightly. The sense of crisis that had just arisen, if not completely erased, had dissipated by more than half.
Right, it wasn't like I didn't have a backer. The Four Great Sects and the Royal Court wanted so badly to figure out what happened to Qin Yun.
In the end, after pushing and shoving, they still didn't directly come knocking to force the King's abdication, instead pulling out the Peak Star Tournament as a guise.
This was the gold content of the Ancient King tier. If they truly dropped the mask, everyone would suffer heavy losses.
"Sect Master..." Su Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief. The two words "Sect Master" he called out again inevitably carried a bit of sincerity.
His gaze had already fallen again on the Mist Embers not far away, before he uttered the second half of his sentence: "If I purify these outermost Mist Embers, will it be of any help to you?"
"Help?" The Ancient Bronze King didn't overthink it. After pondering for a moment, he said, "If these outermost Mist Embers are dispelled, based on my many years of experience suppressing them here..."
"Within a short period, I can leave the Ancient King Palace at will without temporarily worrying about the state of the Starfire. I will be much freer."
"Is that so..." Su Chen appeared thoughtful as he stepped forward. "Sect Master, please wait a moment."
The Ancient Bronze King's brow twitched slightly. Su Chen's words faintly contained a certain solidity. This little fellow seemed...
But Su Chen had already arrived before the Starfire. The color of the outermost mist was thin and grayish-white. As the mist streams surged, it faintly made one feel a chill.
[Mist Embers (Mid-level)]
He reached out and swept his hand, and a prompt surfaced on his Status Panel. These Mist Embers seemed to be drifting and flowing, but in reality, they were a seamless whole.
Su Chen took a deep breath and stepped into it. As the mist flowed, it wrapped around him.
The Ancient Bronze King had already arrived before the Mist Embers. A wisp of cyan-green lightning sank into the Mist Embers. As if awakened, the Mist Embers surged ceaselessly.
And in an instant, the scene before his eyes changed drastically. It was not an illusion. The grayish-white earth beneath his feet was solid, stretching to the end of his line of sight, where a condensed humanoid creature sat cross-legged.
Like this again, directly facing the Black Buddha right off the bat?
Su Chen muttered secretly. Was it pure coincidence, or was it because of purifying the Mist Embers previously, leaving some kind of trace on him, so he directly fought the Black Buddha upon entering?
Pondering in his heart, his movements weren't slow. Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame bloomed around his body, he liberated the Four Seasons Chakra, and continuously applied Holy Hand augmentations.
Projecting the Shadow of the Great Sovereign onto himself, fusing his Mystic Tools into his body early on, and using the Weapon Lord to strengthen himself—all done in one smooth breath.
He already had experience fighting the Black Buddha, and his current state wouldn't last too long either, so there was no time to probe.
With just one step, his figure turned into a streak of light, savagely smashing through the air before him. Before his afterimage dissipated, his fist had already arrived at the Black Buddha's face!
The flame-and-lightning-wreathed fist, wrapped in molten-gold electric snakes, let out an ear-piercing screech wherever it passed.
Boom!
A ring-shaped airwave exploded where the fist and face collided, energy ripples overflowing. The shadow of the Black Buddha shot backward explosively, but quickly stopped in midair. The electric arcs lingering around its body were completely swallowed by black mist, its pupils pitch-black.
"The strength has indeed increased quite a bit." Su Chen stared at the opponent. This Black Buddha, simulated by the mid-level Mist Embers, was no longer condensed from pure mist; its surface even had the texture of skin, though it was black skin.
It nodded slightly, and the vertical pupil on top of its head lit up. A line of black light suddenly appeared, initially as thin as a hair, but instantly condensing into a three-zhang-wide pillar of light.
Su Chen didn't even have time to react. It seemed to have truly reached the speed of light, silently enveloping him within it.
The surface gleamed with an obsidian-like cold luster. Su Chen's heart tightened as he secretly raised his vigilance, yet he only felt the Psionic Power in his entire body boiling, but didn't discover any killing moves.
"This is a mental attack..." Su Chen froze slightly. "Hah, my Mental Core is already gone, how can it attack me?"
Only then did he remember that the Black Buddha was not renowned for its strength, but for toying with people's hearts. The vertical eye on its head was its biggest hallmark.
"If it were the real Black Buddha, it would definitely have a way to affect someone with Spirit-Flesh Unity, but you're just a fake body."
Su Chen steadied his heart. Stomping on the earth, his back arched like a fully drawn bowstring. The Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame around his body abruptly withdrew, and molten gold veins bulged beneath his skin.
The next instant...
Boom!
Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame surged upward from the soles of his feet, exploding into blinding electric awns. Rolling upward from the ground, they tore through the air, emitting a screech like tearing silk, and pounced straight at the Black Buddha!
Bang!
A loud explosion rang out, and the Black Buddha's body collapsed. However, that black mist turned into a rolling torrent, drilling into Su Chen through his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. It roamed beneath his skin like black snakes.
Su Chen's eyes were icy. Holy Hand augmentation, Spiritual Pressure.
Roll out of me!
His muscles tensed inch by inch. Accompanied by a scene like blood mist, those black mists were forcefully squeezed out by an invisible power.
And in the distance, they condensed into a burly black-armored giant. It was originally tens of meters tall, but in an instant, it was compressed to three meters, becoming incomparably solid.
Two arms even tore out from beneath its ribs, holding a saber and a sword respectively. Wings unfurled from its back. Thick black lightning shot from the giant's seven orifices, and faint black fire ignited in its pupils.
"This seems to be Class Fusion, no less than five types, maybe even more..." Su Chen saw the clues from afar. "A Black Buddha of this intensity has increasingly profound usage of various professions."
Previously, at weak intensity, although the various professional abilities looked flashy and substanceless, they were disorganized and chaotic. Now, it was almost the prototype of a Holy Class.
The giant's speed was astonishingly fast. Black lightning exploded, and it had already arrived before Su Chen.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The figures of Su Chen and the Black Buddha clashed against each other, difficult to see with the naked eye. Only the ceaselessly exploding sparks of flowing light could distinguish their locations.
"This intensity is indeed very high."
After clashing for a while, Su Chen secretly clicked his tongue. "Although this Class Fusion is a notch weaker than my Class Fusion, not truly kneaded together..."
"...but complementing each other, it's also extremely terrifying. It's only because my Weapon Lord's augmentation is truly too perverted that I can avoid falling into a disadvantage, and even hold a slight advantage..."
A slight advantage didn't mean he could win, but since the opponent didn't have a Holy Class, defeating it wouldn't be a big problem.
Su Chen had already roughly estimated the situation of the strength between the two, but right now, he was still lacking a bit to win.
He had to reveal more trump cards.
Holy Hand augmentation, Blood Burner!
A blood flame abruptly ignited on the surface of his body, continuously burning his flesh and blood, turning it into nourishment for his strength.
Holy Hand augmentation, Stigmata Healer!
A Stigma stored within his body also quietly burst open. Flowing light rapidly repaired the injuries caused by Blood Burner.
And Su Chen temporarily shifted from an offensive state to a defensive state to avoid affecting the circulation of the various abilities in his body. In an instant, he was hacked tens of meters away by the Black Buddha.
Bang!
Only when he had completely consumed all the nourishment brought by the first Stigma did the Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame shrouding his body blaze out of shape, crackling and popping.
And the Black Buddha's attacks were almost hard-pressed to cause any substantial impact on him anymore.
However, the blood flame on the surface of his skin didn't stop. Instead, it grew even more blazing, continuing to burn his flesh and blood.
Holy Hand augmentation, Ravager!
The injuries began to worsen. His heart beat like a beating drum, hot streams rolling. His aura climbed once more until it reached a certain balance. Every action would faintly transmit a stabbing pain, yet it didn't cause any damage to his movements.
Holy Hand augmentation again, Stigma!
The final stored Stigma also quietly shattered, rolling hot streams flowing through all parts of his body.
Boom!
Su Chen forced back the attacking Black Buddha. Even though the recoil force would worsen his injuries, the power of the Stigma would rapidly repair them, maintaining him at a healthy level the entire time.
Finally... Su Chen stretched his limbs. The various abilities formed a perfect balance within his body, bringing him absolute peak augmentations.
"About enough."
The battle had already gone on for five or six minutes. If he didn't resolve it soon, he wouldn't be able to hold on himself.
Su Chen's eyes chilled. He no longer defended passively. Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame spewed from his seven orifices, and his right fist punched out, wrapped in molten gold radiance.
The black-armored giant that the Black Buddha had transformed into swept its saber horizontally.
Boom!!
A ring-shaped crimson wave exploded where fist and saber collided. The saber shattered, and the momentum of the fist didn't diminish, landing on its chest.
The Black Buddha shot backward like a cannonball for tens of zhang. Su Chen followed closely behind, flowing light like a shadow.
Bang bang bang bang!
Explosive roars continuously rang out.
"So tough." Su Chen's brows locked together. He interlaced his ten fingers and raised them above his head. Golden Thunder and Scarlet Flame intertwined, and faintly, a stalwart figure surfaced behind him, wielding a Thunder-Dash Great Hammer and savagely smashing it down.
"Shatter for me!"
Boom!
Blazing light bloomed, rolling torrents surging and spreading in all directions.
Outside the Mist Embers, the Ancient Bronze King stared intently at the depths of the Mist Embers. A faint, indistinct figure could be seen.
Fine data streams squeezed into the Mist Embers, then returned with difficulty. Su Chen was enveloped by the Mist Embers, and he could only determine Su Chen's physical state through this kind of real-time feedback.
"Hmm. Physical strength sharply increased by over three times, elemental intensity explosively increased by at least five times... what a formidable ability..."
Data circulated in the Ancient Bronze King's eyes. Faintly, he could see a wisp of a crimson phantom sink into Su Chen's body, causing his aura to continuously climb.
"With this kind of physical strength, plus this kind of ability, he has the capital to be confident."
"Extracting Psionic Power to enhance abilities? At the 6th-Tier, he has formed a system of his own."
But not long after, his eyes condensed slightly. The green data streams overflowing from his body abruptly grew thicker, seemingly confirming something.
"This..."
Even for him, his eyes faintly carried a bit of shock. "What ability is this? His physical strength soared by more than five times... ten times... it's still increasing!"
The Ancient Bronze King originally thought that a physical strength comparable to an ordinary 7th-Tier Professional, along with that ability just now, was Su Chen's confidence in coming to test it out so full of self-belief, but now...
"Unimaginable... is this his reliance for defeating Qin Tianlin?"
Even with his life experience, he had never seen an ability of such intensity outside of a Holy Class.
But soon after, his brows twitched, and he murmured, "Still increasing... burning flesh and blood... enhancing oneself. Not only that, there seems to be... some kind of repair ability... burning and then repairing... he truly dares to think of it."
"Using it so unrestrainedly, his body can actually hold up. His cells are strengthened by some kind of ability; one portion of Physical Stamina can be used as three, or even five, or ten portions..."
"Just how many professions does this little fellow have... to coordinate so perfectly."
Some professions would leave traces in the body upon Job Entry, but some would not. Even for him, it was very difficult to intuitively determine how many professions a certain person had taken Job Entry for.
He could only catch a glimpse or two from Su Chen's ceaselessly shifting physical state.
Could it be... Suddenly, the Ancient Bronze King's eyes lit up abruptly, data torrents circulating within them. An irrepressible excitement actually rose in his heart.
The next moment, he saw the Mist Embers wreathing the outermost edge of the Starfire suddenly boil. As if stimulated by something, black mist dissipated, and pure Mist Source converged, ultimately transforming into the size of a fist.
And Su Chen was already sitting slumped on the ground, panting heavily.
Above his head, the Starfire shrieked ten zhang high!